1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy
14th staging of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition
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The 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy was the 14th staging of the BBC2 Floodlit Trophy competition, and was held in 1978.
| 1978–79 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy | |
|---|---|
| Structure | Floodlit knockout championship |
| Teams | 22 |
| Winners | Widnes |
| Runners-up | St. Helens |
Previous two times runner-up Widnes won the trophy by beating the previous year's winners and cup holders St. Helens by 13-7. The match was played at Knowsley Road, Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. 10,250 fans attended, and the receipts were £7,017.
Background
This season Batley dropped out after only one season, but Bramley returned; thus the number of entrants remaining the same at twenty-two.
The format remained as a knock-out competition from the preliminary round through to the final.
The preliminary round involved twelve clubs, to reduce the numbers taking part in the competition proper to just sixteen.
Competition and results
Preliminary round
Involved 6 matches and 12 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | Sat 26 Aug 1978 | Leeds | 47–11 | Bramley | Headingley | 10099 | 1 2 | ||
| P | Sun 27 Aug 1978 | Barrow | 17–11 | Oldham | Craven Park | ||||
| P | Sun 27 Aug 1978 | Wigan | 27–10 | Swinton | Central Park | [3] | |||
| P | Tue 5 Sep 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 39–2 | New Hunslet | Craven Park (1) | ||||
| P | Tue 5 Sep 1978 | Keighley | 10–0 | Dewsbury | Lawkholme Lane | ||||
| P | Tue 12 Sep 1978 | St. Helens | 13–9 | Warrington | Knowsley Road | 5,000 | [4][5] |
First round
Involved 8 matches and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 26 Sep 1978 | Castleford | 20–11 | Wakefield Trinity | Wheldon Road | 3 | [6] | ||
| 2 | Thu 28 Sep 1978 | Barrow | 17–5 | Leigh | Craven Park | ||||
| 3 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Halifax | 12–21 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Thrum Hall | 3 | |||
| 4 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Keighley | 15–25 | Huddersfield | Lawkholme Lane | [7] | |||
| 5 | Tue 3 Oct 1978 | Widnes | 17–13 | Whitehaven | Naughton Park | [8] | |||
| 6 | Tue 10 Oct 1978 | Leeds | 8–14 | Hull F.C. | Headingley | [9] | |||
| 7 | Tue 17 Oct 1978 | Salford | 15–17 | St. Helens | The Willows | 4,632 | 3 | [5] | |
| 8 | Tue 24 Oct 1978 | Wigan | 13–2 | Rochdale Hornets | Central Park | 3 [a] | [3] |
Second round
Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 31 Oct 1978 | Barrow | 0–6 | Hull F.C. | Craven Park | [9] | |||
| 2 | Tue 7 Nov 1978 | St. Helens | 47–5 | Castleford | Knowsley Road | 4,247 | 5 | [5] | |
| 3 | Wed 15 Nov 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | 10–9 | Huddersfield | Athletic Grounds | [3][7] | |||
| 4 | Tue 21 Nov 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | P | Widnes | Craven Park (1) | 6 | [8] |
Replay
Involved 1 matches and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Tue 21 Nov 1978 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 10–13 | Widnes | Craven Park (1) | [8] |
Semi-finals
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 28 Nov 1978 | Hull F.C. | 5–13 | St Helens | Boulevard | 8,428 | 3 | [5][9] | |
| 2 | Tue 05 Dec 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | P | Widnes | Athletic Grounds | 7 | [8] |
Replay
Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture date | Home team | Score | Away team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | Fri 08 Dec 1978 | Rochdale Hornets | 9–26 | Widnes | Athletic Grounds | [8] |
Final
Teams and scorers
| Widnes | № | St. Helens |
|---|---|---|
| teams | ||
| David Eckersley | 1 | Geoff Pimblett |
| Stuart Wright | 2 | Les Jones |
| Eric Hughes | 3 | Peter Glynn |
| Mal Aspey | 4 | Eddie Cunningham |
| Peter Shaw | 5 | Roy Mathias |
| Mick Burke | 6 | Bill Francis |
| Reg Bowden | 7 | Neil Holding |
| Brian Hogan | 8 | Dave Chisnall |
| Keith Elwell | 9 | Graham Liptrot |
| Jim Mills | 10 | Mel James |
| Mick Adams | 11 | George Nicholls |
| Alan Dearden | 12 | John Knighton |
| Doug Laughton | 13 | Harry Pinner |
| Doug Laughton | Coach | Eric Ashton |
| 13 | score | 7 |
| 8 | HT | 5 |
| Scorers | ||
| Tries | ||
| Stuart Wright (2) | T | David "Dave" Chisnall (1) |
| Mick Burke (1) | T | |
| Goals | ||
| Mick Burke (2) | G | Geoff Pimblett (2) |
| Referee | J McDonald (Wigan) | |
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points
The road to success
This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures
| First round | Second round | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||
| Barrow | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leigh | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Barrow | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull F.C. | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leeds | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull F.C. | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull F.C. | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Salford | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 47 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Castleford | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Castleford | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wakefield Trinity | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| St. Helens | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Wigan | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rochdale Hornets | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rochdale Hornets | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Huddersfield | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Keighley | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Huddersfield | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rochdale Hornets | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Halifax | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hull Kingston Rovers | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Widnes | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Whitehaven | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
Notes
1 * At the time this was the second highest score, only to be equalled about two months later in the Second round
2 * The RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives the attendance as 10,099 but this appears to be the attendance at the previous year's final added in error
3 * This match was televised
5 * At the time this equalled the second highest score
6 * Postponed due to pending court case brought by Wigan against the RFL[2]
7 * Postponed
8 * The Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1990–1991[11] and 1991-92[12] and the RUGBYLEAGUEprojects[1] gives the attendance as 10,250 but the official St. Helens archives[5] give it as 10,500
9 * Knowsley Road was the home of St Helens R.F.C. from 1890 until its closure in 2010. The final capacity was 17,500 although the record attendance was 35,695 set on 26 December 1949 for a league game between St Helens and Wigan.